Did Jesus Celebrate Hanukkah?
I love reading the Old Testament and studying Jewish thought and practice. For one, it deepens my understanding of New Testament teaching and events. After all, Jesus was a Jew, as was Paul … and Peter … and John …
So, it shouldn’t surprise me that Jesus celebrated the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. You won’t find Hanukkah in the Old Testament. Hanukkah was not one of the “official” feasts found in the Torah, the Old Testament law, but it was no less celebrated during the days of Jesus.
To appreciate what Jesus did during Hanukkah, we need a little back story.
Remember Alexander the Great? He was the 4th-century B.C. military leader who sought to bring all the world under Greek control.He was determined to create a one-world civilization united by Greek culture, Greek language, Greek everything. (I assume this includes Greek yogurt.) Although Alexander kicked the bucket at an early age, his successors followed his dream of making all things Greek.
I’m skipping a lot of history here, but let’s fast forward about 200 years. Alexander’s empire had been divided into four parts, and in 175 B.C. Antiochus IV Epiphanes was ruling the section that included Israel. Remember the part about making all things Greek? Antiochus was ruthless in that respect. He was oppressive and cruel in so many ways, but he particularly went after the Jews, their religious practices, and their faith in God. He put a statue of Zeus in the temple in Jerusalem and sacrificed a pig on the altar. Many of the Jews cowered, but not everyone. Enter Judah Maccabee. He gathered a small army which revolted against the vastly larger Greek army—and won. So, three years after the smell of bacon filled the temple, the Jewish people cleaned the temple of all things pagan and restored the temple to the correct sacrifices, offerings, and practices.
Hanukkah is a celebration of that event: the rededication of the temple. Jewish history records this in the book of 1 Maccabees: “Then Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev.”
“Hanukkah” means “dedication,” and it was commonly referred to as the Feast of Dedication. The gospel of John tells us of one time when Jesus attended what we would call Hanukkah.
“Then the Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly” (John 10:22-24).
The Jewish perception of the Messiah was of a mighty deliverer, one who would run the Romans out of town and restore the glory of Israel. And that’s what Hanukkah celebrates. At the Feast of Dedication, they lit the lights to commemorate when the oppressors were removed and the temple was restored. With that celebration as the backdrop, the religious leaders wanted to know if Jesus would do the same thing and be the deliverer they wanted. But Jesus wouldn’t play their game.
“I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The works that I do in my Father’s name testify about me. But you don’t believe because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (vv. 25-30).
Jesus is not just a deliverer. He is the Deliverer. And better than any menorah light, He is the Light.
“I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life” (8:12).
For those of us who are not of a Jewish background, we may not light a menorah or talk of Hanukkah, but we can do this: every time we see a menorah shining in a window, let’s thank God for sending Jesus, the Light who exposes our sin and leads us to Himself.
Let’s celebrate Jesus.
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